Salt therapy attribute the benefits to the fact that it is a sterile environment, without pathogens like bacteria and viruses, allergens. Any microorganism that makes it into the cave cannot survive because of the salt. Salt rooms also have a high level of negative ions, which can help improve your mood. Spending time is natural salt caves is called speleotherapy (speleos means cave). But most people don’t have access to a salt cave. So salt rooms were invented in the 1980s to recreate the conditions of a salt cave above ground. Above-ground salt therapy is called halotherapy (halo means salt), and the rooms are sometimes called halo chamber AL CT DE FL GA KY MD MA ME MS NH NJ NY NC OH PA RI SC TN VA VT WA-DC WV & Canada Highlands